Today's session addressed the novel's theme within the Naturalist genre of Man's free will in the face of external factors ,such as war, death, old age , government that control outcomes . I placed quotes from the novel on the board that contained the words," trapped, and cooked" and discussed their fatalistic implication . We further explored the symbolism of the rain and quotes associating rain with death and the inevitable lack of control over destiny. We discussed other quotes from the novel wherein the characters suggest they can challenge destiny with courage . In this regard, Lt Henry alludes to the famous quote from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" that cowards die many times before their death/the valiant taste of death but once." We analyzed Catherine's disagreement with this assessment of bravery and the relevance of this allusion to the novel's theme of the role of courage and bravery in the face of the inevitable .